Prison foodways in "Orange is the New Black"

Abstract

Orange is the New Black (OITNB) is an award-winning Netflix series that ran from 2013 to 2019. This series follows Piper Chapman, a privileged white woman, as she navigates a 15-month sentence at Litchfield Penitentiary after being convicted of smuggling drugs for an ex-girlfriend ten years ago. The series has accumulated many awards and is notable for featuring a cast of majority women and exploring diverse sexual, racial, and gendered bodies within the prison context (Ford, 2020;Kern, 2018;Lauzen, 2017). The current study adds to the literature by analyzing the role of food relating to the incarcerated women throughout all seven seasons of the popular and critically acclaimed Netflix show.